Piloting of the Regulatory Toolkit for Clean Fuels and Vehicles

While developed countries have made major investments to reduce vehicles emissions, the same is not true for developing and transitional countries. Thus similar approaches to promote the use of cleaner fuels and vehicles need to be adopted by developing and transitional countries, where the bulk of vehicle growth is now taking place. In 2014 the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles (PCFV) supported the development of the Regulatory Toolkit for Clean Fuels and Vehicles.

The Toolkit provides a menu of options for developing and transitional countries to match cleaner fuels to plausible vehicle improvements. A systems approach to fuels and vehicles regulations will ensure that countries apply a long term strategy and outlook to their roadmap towards cleaner fuels and vehicles regulation and link the phased introduction of cleaner fuels with those of cleaner vehicles.

The objective of the regulatory toolkit is to build on on-going support by the PCFV to developing and transitional countries to introduce 50 ppm sulphur fuels; adopt more efficient vehicle technologies; and implement vehicle emissions standards that will ultimately improve air quality and health in these countries.

UN Environment (DTIE/Transport Unit) partnered with ECI to pilot the toolkit in the East Africa sub-region. This partnership enabled workshops in 6 East African countries – Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Ethiopia with the aim of:
• Sensitizing stakeholders on the need for a systems approach to the adoption of cleaner fuels and vehicle emission standards.
• Presenting the draft regulatory toolkit to stakeholders. The comments received during these workshops were collated and incorporated into the toolkit before it was finalized.
• Practically demonstrating to stakeholders how vehicle emissions testing are done.
• Providing practical options to decision makers on implementation and enforcement of a systems approach.

The piloting of the Toolkit added impetus to the adoption and implementation of harmonized low sulphur fuels standards in the East Africa sub-region effective January 2015. In addition, Rwanda adopted mandatory vehicle emission testing from January 2015. Kenya and Uganda are also at advanced stages in preparation for mandatory vehicle emissions testing to be implemented in 2017.